


Life and Limb

by the_technicolor_whiscash



Series: Reckless Disregard: The Series [2]
Category: Smallville
Genre: A continuation of the last story, Angst, Car Accidents, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, some Sexy talk but no sex, tying up plot holes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:57:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14109891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_technicolor_whiscash/pseuds/the_technicolor_whiscash
Summary: Clark and Lex have been in a relationship for about a month. Then, Lex begins to have car troubles again. Clark decided to get to the bottom of it.





	Life and Limb

**Author's Note:**

> Told ya I was gonna have a sequel, didn’t I? Might continue the universe eventually after this but who knows

The night was quiet in Lex’s castle. Clark laid on the couch, Lex’s head resting on his chest. Watching the slow rise and fall of Lex’s breathing was relaxing beyond all comparison, and Clark felt himself become lulled nearly to sleep. 

It had been a little over a month since their dramatic (and, if Clark was being brutally honest, embarrassing) professions of love, and they had been effectively dating since then. Effectively, because neither of them thought it wise to make the relationship public. Not yet. Clark knew that his own father would blow a gasket, and to think of what Lex’s father might do was a terrifying unknown. So for now, they loved each other in private. 

The next thing Clark knew, it was morning. The sun shone through the dramatic stained glass windows of the castle, splashing a rainbow of colors across the floor. Lex, upon seeing Clark’s eyes open, smiled. 

“Sleep well?” He asked, that cocky grin of his sending Clark’s heart racing once again. 

“Even better with you.” Clark smiled at just how absurdly cheesy that statement sounded. He belonged in a Hallmark Christmas movie. 

Neither of them had bothered to change the night before, so Lex still wore a violet collared shirt. He had long since lost his tie, so he almost looked relaxed, like he hadn’t called up Clark immediately after a board meeting gone sour. Which he had. “You know, I had a thought.”

“What about?”

“Maybe we could go away for a weekend. You and I could jet off to the Florida Keys or Sicily or somewhere. Spend time together, maybe even eat dinner out in public.” 

“That does sound nice. But I don’t know if I’d be able to, since it’s almost time for the harvest, and my parents need a lot of help on the farm.”

Lex propped himself up on his elbows so that he could look directly into Clark’s eyes. “Clark, you’re a grown man. One weekend away won’t kill you.”

Not much could, he thought to himself. But Lex didn’t know that, or if he had guessed, he didn’t know why. “I’ll think about it. I promise I will.”

“I guess that’s better than nothing. We could explain it to your parents as a fertilizer conference that I thought you might enjoy.”

“That would work, if I hadn’t already used that excuse to get out of fixing the tractor.”

“Damn. I forgot about that.”

“I’ll try and come up with something.”

“So is that a yes, then?”

Clark cupped Lex’s face in his hand, rubbing a thumb against his cheek. “Not yet. I’ll have to see. Be patient.”

“Patience isn’t exactly my strong suit.”

“I know. And yet I love you anyway.” 

Lex turned slightly pink. If there was one thing Clark was good at, it was causing Lex to blush. And god, was he cute when he blushed. Lex buried his head back against Clark’s chest, sighing deeply. “I wish I could stay here for the rest of the day. But I do have a meeting at 9.”

“I’ve got my own business to attend to, too, unfortunately. Otherwise I’d be game for staying here through the foreseeable future.”

“Wanna meet for coffee later? My treat.”

“It’s always your treat, you’re a millionaire.” 

“Yes, but it sounds so much better when I put it like that.”

“True, true.” Clark smiled affectionately. “Coffee it is, then. But no making out in public. I still don’t want either of our dads to find out.”

“No matter how much I might want to?”

“You’ll just have to settle for kissing me here.”

“I suppose that’ll do for now.” Lex said, feigning disappointment. Keeping it a secret was actually his idea, both for Clark’s sake as well as his own. 

“Good. I should hate to disappoint you too badly.” 

“You could never disappoint me. I’m far too in love with you for that to happen.” And with that, Lex kissed him, sending all of Clark’s thoughts fizzling into oblivion. 

——————

Several hours later, Clark sat in the Talon, anxiously tapping his leg while waiting for Lex. He really had no reason to be anxious, but it was a bit of a built in reaction to be worried about him. 

A waitress noticed Clark’s distress and lack of a drink and walked over to him. “How ya doin, hon? Waitin for someone?”

“Yeah. Just a friend of mine. He was, uh, supposed to meet me here a few minutes ago.”

“Think he might’ve gotten stuck in traffic?”

“That could be.”

She seemed to notice Clark’s unwillingness to continue the conversation or order a drink. “Well, just ask if you want something.”

“Yeah. Thanks.” 

As she walked off, Clark heard his phone ring. Seeing that it was from Lex, he picked up and walked out of the cafe. The Talon’s many patrons didn’t need to hear their conversation. “Lex?”

“Hi, Clark. Listen, I… may have gotten into another car accident.”

Clark sighed, running a hand through the back of his hair. “God, Lex. Is that why you’re late?”

“Yes. But this just reinforces my fear that someone’s been messing with my cars. It’s happening on a pretty regular basis at this point.”

“Were you hurt?” 

“No, thank goodness. I may need your help figuring out why this is happening.” 

“Of course. Maybe we should go to the police about it.”

“And tell them what? We don’t know exactly what’s causing this in the first place.” A brief pause. “Can you come over?”

“I’m on my way.” 

Immediately, Clark hopped into his truck and sped off towards the castle. His heart raced. He knew that Lex had enemies, but not anyone bad enough that they would try to kill him. 

Having been there so many times, Clark had a key to the castle and let himself in. He found Lex in the garage, sitting on the hood of an incredibly expensive car, deep in thought. 

Without a moment’s hesitation, Clark engulfed Lex in a hug. He was quite a bit larger than the other man, and Lex seemed to enjoy that, relaxing into Clark’s arms. “You worry me too much.” 

“I know.” Lex breathed against his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. I just want you safe is all.”

“Well, I feel significantly safer when I’m around you.” 

“But I’m not always here, Lex.” He pulled away, looking Lex in the eye. “I’m not always going to be here to save you.” 

“You don’t think I know that?” Lex suddenly became defensive, gripping the front of Clark’s shirt. There was anger in Lex’s eyes, but there was something else too. 

“Lex, are you afraid?”

Lex’s expression immediately fell into something more along the lines of despair. “Would you think less of me if I said that I am? That I’m so deathly afraid that I can hardly think? And the only time I can focus on anything else is when you’re around?”

Clark pressed his forehead against Lex’s, and could almost hear the pound of Lex’s heartbeat. “I want to help you, Lex. But you need to tell me when you’re feeling like this. We can’t just live in a bubble of denial, where we just fuck instead of talking about our problems. I’m here for you. But relationships need communication.” 

“I’ve never been in a relationship like this before, Clark. Not with someone who I actually, legitimately love. Most people in my life have tried to take advantage of me for one reason or another.” He took a deep breath. “You’re all I have left. But I… I don’t want you to get hurt by whoever’s out to kill me.” 

“Then come stay with me. On the farm. We can just say it’s for your safety, my parents don’t have to know about us.”

“But wouldn’t that risk putting you and your family in danger?”

“We Kent’s are fighters. My mom once almost singlehandedly fought off a serial killer in the corn silo.”

Lex smiled slightly at that. “A lot of weird shit sure does happen in Smallville, doesn’t it?”

“You’re not kidding. And that’s not even the weirdest part about that story. But back to the point. Stay with me. I know my mom at least won’t have a problem with it.”

“Fine. If you insist.” He didn’t look like he had needed much insisting, however. “Just let me pack a bag.”

“Sure. And we’ll take my car. I’m pretty sure my dad’s done so much work to it, the insides are nearly unrecognizable, and that’s gotta be harder to sabotage.”

——————

Clark’s mother was absolutely fine with Lex’s sudden appearance, but his father was infinitely skeptical as to why Lex Luthor, of all people, would want to stay in the Kent household. But nevertheless, the decision was already made. Lex would be staying with them. Since there was no guest bedroom in the Kent household, Lex would take the bed while Clark would take the floor. Or, that was what they told Clark’s parents, anyway. 

Lex seemed to like it on the farm. Clark employed him to help with daily chores, and they soon fell into a good rhythm. It felt so surreally domestic, Clark sometimes managed to forget the reason Lex was there in the first place. But there it always was, looming over them. 

“Thought any more about that vacation?” Lex asked, holding a large basket of tomatoes. 

“Truth be told, I had almost forgotten about it.” He smiled sheepishly. “But I think I would like to go somewhere, after all this is over. Where’d you have in mind?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing. I have a private jet, we can literally go anywhere we want. So I want to go somewhere you want.”

Clark was so flattered, he nearly forgot how to speak. But then, it occurred to him just where he wanted to go. “What would you say to Disney World? I know it’s a little childish, but I’ve never been, and I’d like to go.”

“Of course! I’ve never been either. My dad wasn’t exactly the type to take his son to a theme park.”

“We’re going to have to get you a pair of Mickey Mouse ears. I’ll bring my camera and we can take pictures with all of the characters from Toy Story, because we’re mature adults.” He threw an arm around Lex’s shoulder. “And we are absolutely taking a picture on Splash Mountain.”

“Anything for you, my dear.” Lex places the tomatoes on the counter and kissed him on the cheek. 

Clark responded by kissing him back. “‘My dear.’ I like that. We should use pet names more often.”

“We should.” 

A shout by Clark’s mother came from outside, interrupting their moment. “Clark? I need your help with the tractor, it’s not starting.”

“Just a minute, Mom.” He shouted back. He returned his gaze to Lex. “I’ll be right back, darling.”

“Oh, that is a good one.” Lex grinned that million-dollar grin of his. “You know, I could just buy you a new tractor.”

“As much as I’d like to take you up on that offer, my father would not. Just give me like five minutes, and then we can find somewhere quiet to make out.”

“Absolutely. Go, tractor boy.”

Clark frowned in feigned disgust. “That one’s not as good.” 

“I know, and it’s your new nickname.”

“Don’t make me change my mind about making out.”

“I know you won’t change your mind.” Lex’s expression grew sultry, and Clark could feel all of the blood rushing from his head straight to his groin. 

“Don’t do that.” 

“Do what?” 

“Turn me on. Now I’m going to be all distracted while I’m fixing the tractor.”

“Fix it quickly, then, dear.” 

“Fine, darling, I will.” 

Before another word could be spoken, Clark bolted out of the house and off towards the barn where the tractor was housed. 

“So what seems to be the problem with it? Usually you have no trouble at all fixing it.” Clark said, seeing his mother glaring at the engine. 

“I have no idea. It just doesn’t seem to want to start. I’ve tried everything.”

“Where’s dad?”

“In town.” She handed him a large wrench. “Take a look.” 

Clark took the wrench and activated his x-ray vision. “Nothing seems to be out of order. Maybe if we just–“

He was cut off by the sound of the engine roaring to life. Suddenly, the tractor began speeding off out of the barn, with neither key in the ignition nor driver in the seat. 

After a moment’s thought, Clark sped after it and leapt into the driver’s seat. He rammed on the brake, but it refused to stop. After a failed attempt to turn the steering wheel, he realized that the only way to get it to stop would be to use force. He jumped out of the seat and grabbed onto it, digging his heels into the ground. 

After about half a minute of struggle, the tractor finally petered out, stopping in a dramatic sigh. It had gotten pretty far into the field, but Clark considered how it might be dangerous to try to drive it back, so he just pushed it back into the barn. 

“What just happened?” Clark’s mother asked, upon the return of Clark and the tractor. 

“It just kind of came to life.” Clark said, wiping off his hands on his now-filthy shirt. “I have a bad feeling it has something to do with Lex being here.”

“Why’s that?”

Clark sighed. “His cars have been acting up. Swerving off of roads and stuff like that. Driving the opposite way he wants them to.”

“Ah. So that’s why he’s here, then.” She gave him a smile that said that she knew more than she let on, one that only a mother can give. 

“Mom, I, uh, I want you to know something.” Clark realized that she probably knew already, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to hear it from his own lips. “Lex and I are dating. I wanted you to know.”

“I’m glad. Though if you want to continue hiding it from your father, you’ll need to be less obvious about it.”

Clark reddened. “You’re probably right.”

“Well, we probably shouldn’t use the tractor at this rate, so you’re off the hook. Go back to your flirting.”

“We weren’t… I wasn’t… right.” Clark stared at the ground and backed out of the barn, before dashing back to the house. 

“What happened?” Lex said, upon seeing Clark enter. He sat on a stool at the kitchen island, spinning around an apple he had clearly planned on eating but hadn’t started. 

“The tractor kind of came to life and decided to drive into a field.”

Lex’s expression grew grave. “It’s because I’m here, isn’t it.” 

“We shouldn’t assume that.” Clark began to unbutton his filthy shirt. “Tractors are unpredictable.”

“No, they aren’t. This is my fault. The person who’s after me knows I’m here, and they’re taking it out on you.” 

Clark decided that dealing with his shirt wasn’t important, and instead grabbed Lex’s shoulders. “None of this is your fault. Some wacko is trying to kill you, and you are in no way responsible for that.”

Lex reached up and clasped Clark’s hand. “You’re right, of course. But I still feel responsible.” 

Clark kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry about me. We’ll get through this. Together.”

“Right. Together.” Lex used his free hand to undo one of the buttons on Clark’s shirt. “And we can get this shirt off of you together.”

“Oh, naturally.” 

As Lex began to undo another button, Clark used the hand that wasn’t encased in the other man’s to tilt Lex’s head up, before locking them together in a kiss. He could feel that Lex was holding himself back, so he took it upon himself to guide them further into the kiss. He knew he wasn’t as good at it as Lex was, but in the last month or so, he had learned from the best. 

“You sure do know how to make a man feel better.” Lex said, when they finally separated. 

“I try my best.” Clark placed another kiss on Lex’s forehead. “But we need to find out what’s causing these vehicles to come to life. From what I can tell, it’s not an internal problem.”

“Then what do you think it is?”

“Maybe someone can control cars through telekinesis.”

Lex frowned, skeptical. “I’m not so sure about that one.”

“You and I both know that weirder things have happened in Smallville.”

“You’re right, unfortunately.” Lex sighed. “Why couldn’t Smallville just be a normal town, with a weird local quirk that isn’t a bunch of meteor freaks?”

“Because then it wouldn’t be Smallville.” 

——————

Clark realized that the only way to catch whoever was doing this was to catch them in the act, and in order to do that, they came up with a plan. Lex was to act as a sort of bait (much to Clark’s disagreement, but there were no other options), driving around as recklessly as usual while Clark followed close behind. A certain amount of risk would be involved, but it was the best idea either of them could come up with. 

However, there was the problem that neither of them knew when something might happen. There were so many unknowns, and that worried Clark to no end. But if all went well, they would come out alright in the end. 

At the start of their journey, all seemed to go as usual. Lex decided to take a winding path through the woods, which was admittedly very scenic. Smallville’s forests were lovely, though Clark never got much of a chance to admire it. 

As time progressed, Clark began to wonder if the person just wouldn’t show up, leaving them be for the moment. But alas, he soon found that this would not be the case. Lex’s car began swerving in different directions, getting perilously close to running off the road. Immediately, Clark used his x-ray vision, scanning the surrounding forest for any signs of human life. A hundred or so yards away stood the unmistakable outline of a person. But it wasn’t just a regular person. Whoever this was had kryptonite running through their veins, glowing a bright, unsettling green in Clark’s vision. 

Clark quickly picked up his phone and hit Lex’s number, but before he could pick up, Lex’s car went careening off the road. Fear struck Clark, and he floored it, coming up beside Lex’s car in seconds flat. 

“I’m ok!” Lex said, leaning out the window, and Clark let out a sigh of relief. 

“I saw someone in the woods. I’m gonna follow them.” Clark replied.

“Stay safe.”

“I’ll try.”

Clark realized that the best way to deal with this would be to go after the person on foot. He jumped out of his car and began speeding off towards where he last saw the person. But he couldn’t seem to find them. That is, until he heard the sound of a gun cocking. 

“I wondered when you would figure me out.” A voice snarled from behind him. “Congrats on solving the mystery.”

Clark turned around, coming face to face with a man he had never seen. “Who are you? Why’re you doing this?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I know you can control cars and other machinery. Is it some kind of telepathy?”

“Ah. Not as thick as you seem, then. Yes, it is telepathy. Had it ever since the meteors fell. What about you, eh? I know you’ve got something going on, Kent. You’re hiding something.”

Clark took a step back. “How do you know my name?”

“I know everything about you and that weasel, Luthor. I know you two are fucking. Take it from me, kid, you can do better.”

“Why do you hate him so much?”

“I’m not about to tell you my whole life story, kid. But I will tell you this. Luthor’s father has wronged me and so many other people in more ways than you can imagine. The Luthor’s are a cold, cruel people who run a dirty business. It’s only a matter of time before they get what’s coming to them.”

“Sounds to me like you’re the cruel one.”

“You dream of being a hero, Kent. You try to save the world. But that life’s not going to last you very long.” He put the gun down. “I’ll let you be. You’re not the one who I’m here for. But watch out. You’re going to find out that your boyfriend’s got more enemies than just me.”

“I kind of figured that.”

And without another word, the stranger disappeared off into the woods. For a moment, Clark stood in disbelief, turning over the altercation in his mind. But his mind flew back to Lex, and so he returned to where he had left him, and found Lex sitting on the trunk of his car. The car was crumpled on the front, but fortunately he didn’t seem to have more than just some scrapes and bruises. 

“Are you alright?” Clark said, clasping Lex’s hands in his. 

“I’m fine, Clark. But what happened with you? Did you find the guy?”

“I did. And I don’t think he’ll be bothering us anymore.”

Lex gave him a skeptical look. “You didn’t kill him, did you?”

“Of course not. I thought about it, though.”

“Who was he?”

“Someone who wasn’t exactly happy with your father’s business practices.”

“So naturally he decided to take it out on me.” He sighed. “I’m sorry I had to drag you into this. You shouldn’t have to deal with my family’s drama.”

“Don’t be sorry. I was happy to help.” Clark began to smile. “And hey, now we can plan out our trip to Disney.”

“You’re sure you still want to be with me, after all this?”

“Of course I do. I would follow you to the end of the earth, if you needed me to.” 

Lex pulled his hand from Clark’s and carded it through Clark’s hair. “What did I do to deserve you?”

“You made me fall in love with you.”

“Guilty as charged.”

Before another moment passed, Clark pressed his lips against Lex’s. His free hand worked its way up to Lex’s shirt, spreading his fingertips across the other man’s chest. The thin cotton was soft under his touch. 

“I’ll never get tired of that.” Clark mused.

“Good. Because I’m not going to stop doing it.”

Lex went in for another kiss, but Clark put a finger onto his lips. “Not yet. We should be heading back. Besides, someone may see us driving by, and it does feel a little sketchy to be making out at the scene of a car accident.”

“Your place or mine?”

“Mine, for now. I can get my mom to make you one of those pies you love.”

Lex’s eyes lit up. “Yes. Absolutely. Let’s do that.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

**Author's Note:**

> I’m now almost done with season one of the show so I have more information to go off of isn’t that fun


End file.
